Dearest Love
by lilkawa
Summary: Elizabeth and Darcy meet again at Pemberley...
1. Chapter 1

_Pride and Prejudice_ doesn't belong to me.

Thanks Miriam1 for all your help.

Enjoy

**Dearest Love**

Fitzwilliam Darcy entered the Pemberley Ballroom and looked around for his sister. It was New Year's Eve and as was the tradition, the Darcys' were throwing their annual ball. Georgie was in charge of organizing it, since Darcy usually found that the family business took most of his time and Georgie insisted that the ball, which their parents had started, take place every year.

The room was full – it seemed to Darcy that the number of guests increased every year. But this time, the room was practically bursting at the seams. He wondered where Georgie was. His plan was to spend some time talking to her and then leave before midnight. He was very tired but he'd promised her that he'd at least show his face and he intended to keep his promise despite being dead on his feet.

"Fitz," Georgie shouted, when she saw him, "Come and have a drink."

He shook his head; he couldn't possibly eat a thing. He was too tired for that as well; all he wanted was his bed.

"At least you came," Georgie said, "when you called and said you were still in meetings in Paris, I thought you would not show."

"I told you that I would," Darcy told her. "In fact I distinctly remember you threatening me with bodily harm if I didn't."

Georgie laughed. "Charlie is around somewhere," she told him, "he really wants to talk you about something." Darcy nodded; he hoped that Caroline, Bingley's sister wouldn't try to talk to him. She'd always been a bit of a pest but lately he couldn't stand her at all. She had this idea in her head that he was her property and was always trying to show how well she knew him, but that wasn't the worst of it. She had taken to bringing Elizabeth Bennet into every conversation, talking about how bad her dress sense was, how she wasn't as pretty as everyone had said she was, and how common her family was.

All that talk of Elizabeth reminded him of how she had refused him just a few weeks ago. He had tried to forget her, even before he had proposed to her but he had failed. But now she filled his every waking thought, her smile, her laugh, and the way she walked and talked. He found himself lost in day dreams about her.

As if he had conjured her up, the crowd suddenly parted and Darcy saw Elizabeth Bennet. She was wearing a deep blue evening gown that fitted her well and she was talking and smiling at an older couple. Darcy couldn't believe it.

Elizabeth was here, she was at the Darcy ball.

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Elizabeth was staring at the room in wonder. She could honestly say she had never seen such splendor in her life. This place was absolutely out-of-this world. She was glad that she'd been persuaded to attend the party.

When her Uncle and Aunt Gardiner had first told her that they were going to attend the annual New Year's Ball hosted by the Darcys, she had refused point blank. There was no way she was going to a party at the Darcys without being invited. She had just turned down the man a few weeks' earlier, what would he think of her?

But her relations had reasoned with her, Mr. Gardiner's law firm was part of the Darcy group so he sort of had to be there, and Elizabeth really wanted to see their house, she'd had so much about it. So she had told herself that she could sneak into his placed without his knowledge – after all she'd been reliably informed that he would not be in attendance – he was out of the country on business and was expected back the next day.

She was of two minds about seeing Darcy again. She both dreaded and wanted to see him. When she'd read his letter, she had gone through a myriad of emotions. She couldn't believe she had misjudged him so completely, that she had ever believed Wickham – who had turned out to be pure slime.

Over the past few weeks, she had considered Darcy's proposal and while she didn't regret turning him down - not really, she wished for a chance to get to know him better. He was one of the most intriguing people she'd ever met. And if the stories were to be believed, one of the best people in the world, Elizabeth could honestly say – to herself, in whispers only, that she now wished she hadn't turned him down. He seemed like the sort of man she could love.

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Darcy got over his shock and made his way towards Elizabeth fully intending to speak to her, but he kept being waylaid by colleagues and family friends who wanted to talk to him. After finally shaking off, Mrs. Meade, who had insisted on introducing to all her six grand-daughters, he looked around but could no longer see Elizabeth.

She and her companions had left.

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"I'm sorry I made you leave so early," Mr. Gardiner told his wife and niece. Some urgent business had come up.

"It's fine," Elizabeth replied. "We got to attend part of the ball." She had successfully entered his domain and left without his being any the wiser.

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Darcy couldn't believe he had missed Elizabeth. He wondered where she was staying. He really wanted to see her. As he walked through the room Martin Thomas, one of his colleagues, called to him to join them. Martin Thomas, Peter Dingle and Warren Trent were accountants.

"Who was that young lady in the deep blue gown, with amazing eyes?" Peter asked, after they had discussed some business. Martin replied immediately. "You mean Elizabeth Bennet?" Martin answered. Peter persisted. "She's a beauty isn't she?"

"She doesn't work with us, does she?" Warren asked. "Surely I would have seen her before."

"No," Martin replied, "she came with a Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner. Mr. Gardiner works with Larner and Associates in London." Larner and Associates was a recent acquisition of the Darcy group. "They're staying at the Rose House," Martin continued, "and will be heading home on the day after tomorrow."

The group was joined Darcy and Martin were joined by Bingley and Darcy went off with his friend.

At least he knew where Elizabeth was staying, he told himself, and he would go over in the morning and see her.

He would talk to her.

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	2. Chapter 2

Darcy spent the night alternating between deciding to go and see Elizabeth in the morning and keeping away from her. By breakfast he had made up his mind not to go the house where she and her relations were living but he couldn't help but tell Georgie about her. Given his earlier conversations about Elizabeth Bennett, Georgie couldn't wait to meet the woman who had captured her brother's heart and by the time they finished breakfast, Georgie and Darcy had decided to call on the Gardiners and Elizabeth later that morning.

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Elizabeth rose early, as was her usual habit; today she was going to thoroughly explore the house. The company had a house rented for Mr. Gardiner's two-week stay; Elizabeth was on holiday, which is why she was staying with her aunt and uncle. She had never been to Devonshire and having a house to live in and many famous houses to visit had appealed to her. So far, with visiting Mrs. Gardiner's friends – Aunt Gardiner was a Devonshire girl born and bred although she didn't visit the area as often as she wanted, and the grand houses in the area, Elizabeth hadn't had a chance to explore the house properly and that is what she hoped to do today.

It was a big house with five bedrooms, a large sitting room, a dining room, a spacious kitchen, a library, and an attic. The house had many sets of spiral wooden chairs. Elizabeth had decided that her explorations would begin in the attic. According to the woman who had handed them the keys, the house had been built during the time of King George and had most of the original features, although a lot had been changed over the years.

Elizabeth was in the attic sitting on an old blanket pretending to look through an old trunk that she had found. She soon gave up the pretense and let her mind wander. It didn't go far; she thought of Darcy and wished she had seen him the night before. She wondered how he was and if she would see him when he returned in the area. She thought of Pemberley; it was a wonderful property, and she wished she could have a chance to go back and look at it properly. For the party, only the ballroom had been open, but Elizabeth wanted to see the whole house and the gardens, which she'd only had a glimpse of. She knew that she probably would never have a chance to see it but she could dream about it.

The faint sounds of a car stopping below drove her out of her daydreams and she walked to the windows. Darcy was getting out of the car in a leisurely fashion and the passenger door opened to reveal to young girl, pretty with long blonde hair. Elizabeth watched them in shock and then she was galvanized into action. She took the stairs and went to the kitchen, where her aunt and uncle were clearing up after having a late breakfast.

"Mr. Darcy's here," Elizabeth, told them breathlessly.

"What?" Mrs. Gardiner was shocked. "What's he doing here?" She exchanged a look with her with her husband; it seemed their niece had kept a lot from them.

There was a knock at the door and Mrs. Gardiner and Elizabeth went to the sitting room, while Mr. Gardiner went to the door to let the visitors in.

"We're sorry to call on you so early and without notice," Darcy told him.

"Nonsense, young man," Mr. Gardiner told him. "Come on in." He led them to the sitting room.

Elizabeth had changed seats three times, she couldn't sit still. She plumped the throw pillows and straightened the picture on the wall. "Relax, Elizabeth," her aunt told her.

"I'm relaxed," Elizabeth replied, in a strangled voice. Mrs. Gardiner took her niece's hand wondering what was causing her to panic so much. Elizabeth looked at her aunt and decided to voice her greatest fear; she knew it wouldn't make sense to her aunt but she had to tell someone. "What if she doesn't like me?" Elizabeth whispered. Before Mrs. Gardiner could reassure her niece, the door opened to reveal Mr. Gardiner and their visitors.

Mr. Gardiner introduced the Darcys to his wife and Elizabeth and they sat down. "We really should have called before we came over," Darcy said.

"But I told him not to waste time calling," Georgiana interjected, "I really wanted to meet you. I hope you don't mind, Fitz has told me so much about you."

Elizabeth smiled at the younger girl. "I hope it wasn't all bad."

"It wasn't bad at all," Georgiana replied, "unless you count you telling him off about his rudeness. I couldn't believe it when Fitz told me what he'd said."

After that Elizabeth began to regale Georgiana about Darcy's behavior when they first met. Elizabeth discovered that when Georgie said Darcy had told her about Elizabeth it was true; Georgie asked about her sisters by name. "I wish I had come with him to Longbourn with Fitz and Charlie, it seems like so much fun."

"You should come sometime," Elizabeth told her.

"I definitely will," Georgie replied.

Darcy and Mr. Gardiner discussed business at first but soon began to talk about fishing, which was Mr. Gardiner's first love. Darcy was also knowledgeable about it and the fact that Pemberley had a stream running through it that was stocked with fish even made it enjoyable. Darcy invited him to join him for fishing the next day.

In between talking to the Gardiners, Darcy watched Georgie and Elizabeth talk with a small satisfied smile on his face. He was happy that they were getting on so well.

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Neither Elizabeth nor Darcy knew how it happened. After issuing an invitation to dinner at Pemberley for the following evening, Elizabeth walked the Darcys to their car and somehow found herself holding hands with Darcy. His grip was firm and somehow it felt right to both of them.

Georgie hugged Elizabeth and told her that she couldn't wait for tomorrow night. When Elizabeth would have walked to the side and watched them leave, Darcy had taken hold of her shoulders and drawn her in towards him and kissed her gently.

Elizabeth was too stunned to do more than stare at the car drive off.

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Mrs. Gardiner stood at the window watching the interplay between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth; something was definitely going on between them. When Mr. Darcy kissed Elizabeth, Mrs. Gardiner smiled. She had seen evidence throughout the visit that Mr. Darcy's feelings towards their niece were more than platonic, and they would be good for each other, she just knew it.

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Thanks for reading, reviewing, adding to favorites and alerts. Thanks Miriam1.


	3. Chapter 3

Elizabeth stood frozen outside the house watching the car disappear into the distance.

Darcy had kissed her.

If she was honest with herself, Elizabeth could admit that she'd thought about Darcy kissing her for months and the reality had not disappointed her. It had been enchanting, out of this world.

She would have remained standing out there reliving the kiss, how he had taken her shoulder, how his head had dipped, how he had smelled – until she realized that her aunt was standing at the window looking at her.

Mrs. Gardiner had seen Darcy kiss her, Elizabeth realized. She wondered how she was going to explain this to her aunt.

Mrs. Gardiner didn't comment about what she had witnessed when Elizabeth finally entered the room. She felt sure that her niece would talk about it when she was ready.

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Darcy couldn't believe that he had kissed Elizabeth Bennet. He'd dreamt about it for months, actually since their second meeting at Longbourn.

She hadn't reacted, apart from kissing him back, so he wondered what to make of it. Had her feelings towards him changed? Did he now at last have a chance of succeeding?

He couldn't wait for tomorrow, she would be here with him at Pemberley. They would spend time together and he couldn't wait.

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The whole of Pemberley was ablaze with activity, Darcy and Georgie checking and cross-checking the menu to make sure everything was perfect. Bingley was also very excited, he wanted to see Elizabeth – he still had yet to gather the courage to call Jane after they had left Longbourn. The only person not so happy with the impending visit was Caroline Bingley. "You'd think the Queen herself was visiting, the way you two are going on," she told Darcy angrily.

As Darcy watched her walk back into the house he thought to himself, 'If you only knew Caroline, she IS a queen to me.'

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Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner decided to call on an old friend of Mrs. Gardiner's who had just returned to the area. Elizabeth elected to stay at the house and prepare for the dinner at Pemberley; she would spend the time reading the paperback that she'd brought with her.

The phone interrupted her reading – it was Jane. They spoke every day, and she had already spoken to her sister earlier in the day. They had spoken about the kiss and the feelings that Jane was sure Elizabeth had for Darcy, Georgie, and the impending dinner at Pemberley.

Jane was almost in tears and could barely speak.

"Jane, calm down," Elizabeth told her sister. "Tell me exactly what happened."

"It's Lydia," Jane replied.

"Lydia?" Elizabeth asked, surprised. "I thought she was on a school trip to Sydney."

Lydia, the youngest Bennet girl, was in the final year of her A levels and was currently on a school trip to Sydney, Australia. Elizabeth discovered from Jane that Lydia and her friend Heather had left the group and had somehow been left behind. Their teacher had only discovered their absence when they had failed to show up for the flight home.

"What is being done to recover them?" Elizabeth asked, anxiously.

"Daddy is planning to fly to Sydney as soon as he can," Jane replied, "but you know these things take time."

"We're coming home," Elizabeth said tensely, "let me find Uncle and Aunt and we'll be on our way."

"I'm sorry to cut your holiday short," Jane replied unhappily, "but I need you here, Mummy has had a breakdown of sorts."

Elizabeth got off the phone and tried to call her Aunt and Uncle, but they had left their phones in the house. She would have to wait for them to return. As she waited, she remembered their dinner engagement and decided to call Darcy and tell him that they wouldn't be able to dine with them.

"Something's come up," Elizabeth told Darcy, "and we'll not be able to meet you for dinner after all."

"Are your parents well?" Darcy asked her.

"Yes, they are," Elizabeth replied, a tiny sob escaping her.

"I'm on my way," Darcy told her, "I'll see you in ten minutes."

"There's no need for you to come," Elizabeth replied but Darcy had already hung up.

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"What is being done?" Darcy asked Elizabeth. "What is her teacher saying?"

"The students were given a free afternoon, to go shopping and other personal stuff, but they were to assemble at the hostel and go to the airport together. Lydia and her friend Heather didn't show up." Elizabeth told him.

"And you don't know if she has any friends in Sydney?"

"We have no relatives there," Elizabeth replied, close to tears, "but who really knows what's going through a seventeen-year-old's head? Maybe they got lost, made new friends." She didn't add 'got kidnapped or killed', but they both knew what she was thinking.

She turned to the window, reflecting on what she could have done differently to prevent this from happening. She wished she had worked harder to dissuade her father from allowing Lydia to go, but it had been a trip organized by the school. The teachers were responsible and would take care of the children. Or so they'd said.

"I'm sure they're doing everything they can to find them," Darcy told Elizabeth sympathetically. She turned from the window and looked at him, tears running down her cheeks and he took her into his arms.

After the storm of tears had passed, Elizabeth looked at him and slowly disentangled herself. "Thanks," she muttered, embarrassed.

"I guess I better go," Darcy said, sensing her desire to withdraw.

"Yes."

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The Gardiners, when they heard of their niece's plight, were quick to pack their bags and head back to Longbourn to help their brother and sister.

"I pleaded with Mr. Bennet not to let our dear Lydia go on that school trip," Mrs. Bennet told her brother when they arrived in Longbourn, "but he didn't listen, he never does. Now, my baby is lost to me."

"Don't lose hope," Mr. Gardiner told his sister, "we are going to do everything in our power to recover her."

"It's all Mr. Bennet's fault," Mrs. Bennet continued, "taking her to that school, she should have gone to St. Bernice's, like Maria Lucas. If the Lucases can afford to send their daughters there, surely we can too."

Mr. Gardiner went in search of Mr. Bennet who he found sitting in his study staring at the bookshelf.

"In hindsight," Mr. Bennet said, "I guess I should have realized that Lydia couldn't be trusted, even on a school trip."

"You couldn't have known that she would run away," Mr. Gardiner replied.

"I should have known," Mr. Bennet insisted, "she's her mother's daughter, after all. I should have guessed something like would happen."

"I think the thing we should do now," Mr. Gardiner said, "is to find Lydia and bring her home."

"You know Elizabeth warned me," Mr. Bennet continued as though Mr. Gardiner hadn't spoken. "She told me she didn't think Lydia was mature enough to go on the trip. And you know what I told her? The teachers will look after her, it's their job. How can I expect a teacher to do a parents' job?"

The men were silent for a while and then Mr. Gardiner said, "Flights to Australia are a bit expensive and then there's the accommodation to consider but I think we can manage it."

"Thank you, my friend."

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"Darcy, this is a surprise," John Fitzgibbon told his cousin. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

Darcy had called his cousin who worked with the British Foreign Service and was currently stationed in New Zealand.

"I need your help locating somebody," Darcy told him.

"If the girl has run away from you to New Zealand, let her go," John joked. "She obviously doesn't like you."

"Very funny," Darcy replied drily, and proceeded to tell him the whole Lydia Bennet saga. John Fitzgibbon said he would use his contacts and try to locate Lydia.

After Fitzgibbon got off the phone with Darcy, he called his friend in Sydney to find out what was being done to locate the missing schoolgirls. The teacher had already reported to the consulate, and they were trying to find out where the girls had gone.

Fitzgibbon found out that Lydia's friend Heather Young's brother Peter was a very close friend of George Wickham. John couldn't believe it. After investigating further, Fitzgibbon found out that Wickham had indeed moved to Sydney – apparently he had engaged himself to a rich young girl and stolen from her family. But Wickham was a common name, Fitzgibbon thought; it might not be the same one. Another phone call confirmed that it was indeed George Wickham. Mr. Wutherington-Puck, the man from whom he had stolen was looking for Wickham and his search had pointed him to Sydney, the Greater Western Sydney to be exact.

When Darcy heard the news he blamed himself totally. "I should have warned the Bennets about Wickham," he told his cousin.

A few years earlier, Wickham had been hired by a family that lived near Pemberley as a stable hand. With his good looks and charm, he had managed to seduce the young girls in the neighbourhood. Later, it was found out that on top of that, he also stole from the families of the girls he professed to be in love with.

The Darcys had been luckier than the other families in the neighbourhood; Wickham hadn't yet made his move on Georgie before the whole scam was discovered. Wickham was able to escape imprisonment because most of the families that had been affected were unwilling to let the world know what had happened to them. Darcy had tried to convince them to have Wickham charged, but to a man, they had all told him that he only wanted the news to come out because he hadn't been made a fool of by Wickham.

So Wickham had been let loose onto the world to continue his business of seducing young girls and stealing from them.

The cousins decided to go to Greater Western Sydney and find Wickham.

After three days of searching they discovered that Wickham was in Liverpool, where a cottage owner had reported the use of a stolen credit card.

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Lydia Bennet looked sat up on the bed and smiled at the man standing in front of her. "I really love this place, George; do we really have to leave?"

"I'm afraid so," Wickham replied. He hadn't told her, but he didn't have any money, and he was sure the owner of the cottages had figured out that the credit on the card he had given him had run out and that it wasn't even his.

They had to leave in the morning.

Unfortunately, Lydia had no money – it was too bad that Wickham hadn't known that before he had run away with her, but at least she knew how to have fun.

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John Fitzgibbon and Darcy talked to the owner of the cottages.

"Are you sure this is the man?" Fitzgibbon asked, showing him a picture of Wickham.

The man nodded and then added, "He had a young girl with him."

"And you gave them a room?" Darcy asked.

The man shrugged, it wasn't his business to find out if his clientele were of legal age. All that really mattered to him was that they paid him. The man identified by the photo paid cash at first and then later given him a credit card. In fact, if the credit card hadn't been rejected, the cottage owner would never called in the authorities. His place was known for its discretion.

"Take us to the cottage," Darcy told him.

They found Wickham watching TV, but there was no sign of Lydia.

When Wickham saw Darcy and Fitzgibbon, he smiled at them. "Why am I not surprised to see you?"

"Where is she?" Darcy asked him.

"Don't you have better things to do than following me around?" Wickham asked.

"Where is Lydia?"

"Still trying to get into the good graces of Elizabeth Bennet?" Wickham stood up to pour himself a drink. "I don't think it will work."

"Wickham, stop this nonsense," Fitzgibbon told him, "do you know how much trouble you're in?"

"Darcy, it won't work," Wickham continued to rile him, "I'll always be her first choice but hey, if you're willing to be second best…" Darcy had been holding onto his temper, but he was going to lunge for him when the bathroom door opened and Lydia walked in.

Darcy saw red when he saw Lydia come out of the bathroom wearing only a dressing gown; Fitzgibbon wasn't fast enough to stop him from grabbing Wickham and hitting him in the face.

"What is wrong with you?" Darcy asked Wickham. Wickham couldn't answer; Darcy's punch had surprised him and he was on the ground rubbing his face, a weak smile on his face.

Darcy was about to hit him again but Lydia screamed for him to stop.

Lydia didn't want to be parted from Wickham and insisted that it had been her decision to run away with him, but Wickham was arrested and Lydia went home with Darcy and Fitzgibbon.

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It had taken longer that Mr. Bennet had hoped to organize the money for the trip to Sydney, but in the end he didn't have to go, since Lydia had been found and she was coming home the next day. Mr. Bennet thanked Mr. Gardiner who had called with the news and went to tell his wife and children.

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**Thanks for reading, reviewing, adding to favourites and alerts. Thanks a lot.**

**Miriam thanks for making this chapter what it is and for all your help. Thank you very much.**


	4. Chapter 4

"She insists on speaking to you and only you," Greg told Darcy. "I explained to her that you were unavailable but she said she would wait until you returned from your trip."

Darcy looked at one of his partners and nodded. "I'll go down there tomorrow."

"Thank you."

The Darcy Group was a huge firm with lawyers, engineers, and graphic designers. Darcy was an engineer and he usually dealt with that side of things, leaving the rest to others with more experience in the fields; however many of their clients, especially the older ones like Mrs. Gilbert, often preferred to deal with him directly.

Mrs. Gilbert had recently received permission from English Heritage to remodel part of her 800-year-old house. The Darcy Group was going to do all the work but now it seemed she needed to talk to Darcy before the excavation team went to Reading to start their work.

Darcy had planned to go and see Elizabeth, now that Lydia had been at home for week. He knew that the feelings of the people in Longbourn and the neighbourhood about him – given how he had behaved when he was there last, Bingley had taken a house there for a while and Darcy had gone with him – were not good to say the least. But he really wanted to see Elizabeth.

'I guess I'll go and see her after I see Mrs. Gilbert,' he thought to himself. Although knowing how fussy Mrs. Gilbert was, he knew his visit could take even up to a week.

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The wedding reception was in full swing the speeches had been made, and many of the guests were walking towards to buffet tables to get their food.

"This is exactly how I pictured Lee's wedding," Rose said. "I can't believe you were going to miss this."

"Me too," Elizabeth agreed, drily. She was surprised at how much she was enjoying herself; she hadn't been to a wedding in so long, she'd thought it would be annoying to say the least but so far she'd been pleasantly surprised.

Elizabeth had met Lee at university, where they had never been close friends, and they had not kept in touch after graduation, which is why she had been surprised to receive the invite. Elizabeth had RSVPed that she wouldn't be able to make it – she was going on holiday with her Aunt and Uncle.

She had even forgotten all about the wedding until she'd met Lee and her mother shopping two days after Lydia's return, and they had insisted that she attend. "No one really reads those RSVPs," Lee had said, "and I need all my friends around me for support." Elizabeth would have still refused but they had met some other friends from university, and as Elizabeth laughed and talked with them, she thought that she could do worse than go to Reading for Lee's wedding; it would actually be fun to find out what they'd all been up to for the past few years.

So Elizabeth had taken the train to Reading, and here she was. Lee's hubby Ray was from a well-to-do family, and their wedding was surely going to be covered by the local newspaper.

"You're going to attend the after party, aren't you?" Rose asked.

"No, sorry," Elizabeth replied, "I'm heading back home on the ten o'clock train."

"You can't be serious," Rose told her, "_we_ have to attend." She turned to Becky, another of their friends, and said, "Liz says she wouldn't be attending the after party, can you believe it?"

Becky turned to Elizabeth. "We have to attend," she said. "Lee said she had a surprise for all of us. It's not like you're married or anything like that. Why do you have to rush home?"

Several of the girls had now joined the conversation and Elizabeth agreed to stay the night, if only to stop them from trying to convince her. She would leave in the morning.

"This is going to be just like old times," Rose said, happily.

The after party was a lot of fun, and Elizabeth could admit that she was glad she had been convinced to stay. Lee and Ray had booked the whole hotel and every guest had a room.

"Don't go sneaking off in the wee hours," Rose told Elizabeth as they left the ballroom, "Pat and I live near Longbourn, you know, and we'll be happy to give you a lift back."

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"We're not going to break down dear Tommy's green house," Darcy told Mrs. Gilbert again. Dear Tommy was the Gilbert's youngest son who had moved to Boston a few years ago. "He'll want it to be exactly as he left it," she continued. Thomas Gilbert had not been home in more than five years, and Darcy doubted he even cared about what his mother did to the house. "We're only touching the servants' quarters," Darcy reminded her. "Like we agreed."

"You're a good boy," Mrs. Gilbert smiled at him, "your parents would be very proud of what you've accomplished."

Darcy walked with Mrs. Gilbert down the aisle to the front of the church where the Gilberts had always sat. They were a bit late for the service and the Reverend stopped in the middle of what he was saying to welcome them.

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"Fancy running into you here," Elizabeth said. Darcy smiled at her; of all the places in the world, he'd never thought he would find Elizabeth right outside Mrs. Gilbert's house.

"Yes, I had to see a client," Darcy replied, gesturing at the grand house behind him.

"I was attending a wedding," Elizabeth told him.

"Ah, yes, the Simpson wedding," Darcy replied, "at Somerton Hotel." Mrs. Gilbert had attended it. "So how have you been?"

"Fine," Elizabeth coloured, remembering the way she had broken down the last time they'd met. "Lydia was found and she's back home."

"Good." Darcy replied, hoping the silly girl had kept her promise to keep his part in it quiet. After a moments' silence he asked, "So are you staying in Reading long?"

"You want me to leave?" Elizabeth pretended to misunderstand his question.

"No, no," Darcy replied, hastily, "I was just wondering if you had time to join me for a lunch, or something. My business with Mrs. Gilbert is over and was just taking a walk before I go back and say my goodbyes."

"My friends offered me a lift back to Longbourn after lunch," Elizabeth replied, "when they are fully rested from yesterday's festivities."

"In that case, can I offer you a lift back home now?"

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"… The whole thing was just wrong," Elizabeth argued.

"They are allowed to take artistic liberties," Darcy pointed out, "at least you read the books and know what Ludlum wrote."

"Yes," Elizabeth agreed, "that's why I'm unhappy with it. Marie was made totally useless, and then they had the nerve to kill her. I mean, who kills the woman who saved Jason Bourne?" They were now discussing the Bourne series. They had begun with the economic crisis, the poor standards of waste management (which were a sore point with Elizabeth), the books they'd read, and the music they liked and discovered that they had a lot in common, although Elizabeth's tastes were very eclectic, and now were discussing books that had been made into films.

They turned a corner and Elizabeth could see the house come into view.

Darcy parked the car and got out to open the passenger door for her. As he helped her out, he said, "I'll call you tomorrow, and don't worry, Lydia will get over Wickham soon enough."

"I knew it," Elizabeth told him, "I knew you had to have something to do with the getting Lydia home."

"Just don't go around publicizing it," Darcy replied, after having owned up to his part in it and explaining in greater detail. "I have a bad reputation to maintain around here."

Elizabeth hugged him fiercely, whispering, "Thank you."

"There's no need for thanks," Darcy said, "It's what you do when you love someone."

"What did you say?" Elizabeth was shocked, and then a small smile crept onto her face.

"I love you," he repeated slowly, "I didn't mean to blurt it out like that, but it's the truth." He wondered why he'd never said it out loud before. At the look on her face he added, "I just wanted to put it out there, so that you would, you know, know."

"So you love me, huh?" she asked him.

"Yes."

"Just so we're clear, how long have you loved me?" she teased him. She didn't wait for a reply but just continued to speak, "So that time when you proposed, you must have loved me even then, right? Why didn't you say anything to me?"

He was silent for a while and then said, "I thought I had and I only realized it later that I hadn't even said it. I doubt it would have made a difference anyway."

"You never know," Elizabeth told, and then she pulled him down and kissed him. "See you on Tuesday; I know you haven't asked me out, or anything, but it's Valentine's Day, and you did say that you loved me."

He couldn't wait for Tuesday, but then again, who said that he had to wait for Tuesday?

000

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